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Monday, September 24, 2012

Six

He pads softly into my room and smiles as he climbs into the big bed with me.

"It's my birthday," he whispers loudly.

"I know," I smile back as I stare at this big little boy snuggling up close to me.

"I'm six," he whispers with barely contained joy.

I hold him tight and remember those first days and I thank God for every one of them.

I remember how he smelled and how soft his cheeks were against mine, how he would pat my arm as I rocked him to sleep and how his little fists used to be so meaty and the way he would throw himself backward when he laughed.

I thank God that he is with me all day, that I get to watch this little boy learn and grow and that I don't have to miss him while he is away at school. I thank God that time is not flying so fast as it used to and that this little boy just loves his family so much.

So much.

We celebrated the day with cookies and cupcakes and Hibachi style food and they played the gong while he grinned so big. His daddy prayed over him as he went to bed and I marveled that 6 years have passed since that day that we waited breathless for news.
"He is here. He is born."

6 years have passed since I drove with three kids across the country and came home with four. 6 years have passed since my smallest baby was placed in my arms and I thought he was the last so I just enjoyed him so much. I watched him sleep and held him tight and laughed...oh, how he makes us laugh.

He laughs hard from deep within and he wants so much to be big like DJ. He is his daddy's little shadow, following just behind and always sitting close. He loves Jesus and begs to hear worship music in the car. ("Can somebody please play Chris Tomlin?") He sings loud and lifts his hands in praise and I thrill when I see those hands in my rearview mirror. He hugs tight and kisses with those beautiful lips and tells me over and over that he loves me.

He loves his mama, and this mama loves her little boy.

Thank you, Lord, for these six beautiful years. Thank you for allowing me the honor of being his mother, for every hug and I-love-you and mama-will-you-snuggle-with-me request when it is way past bedtime. Thank you for his hands so big, that still fit perfectly in mine. Thank you for my son, this son who was a surprise to us but never to You. Thank you for not listening when we said we were "done" at three kids...for giving us more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Happy birthday to you, my darling Drew. How I love you, sweet boy. How we all love you!